Method of forming reenforced castings



March 9 1926.

C. E. EKLIND METHOD OF FORMING REENFORCED QASTINGS Filed April 16, 1925 J 7711677f07i Hal EE/QLTMZ VM 'W Patented Mar. 9, 1926.

UNITED STATES CARL E, EKLIND, OI ILLINOIS.

amnion or some mnroacan caszrmes.

Application filed April 16, 1925. Serial No. 23,469.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Cam. E. Exnmn, a citizen of the United States, residing at Berwyn, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Methods of Forming Reenforced Castin s, of which the following is a full, clear, an exact specification.

My invention relates generally to a method and means for making reenforced castingsand particularly to a method of forming such reenforced castings during the molding operation or manufacture thereof. An object of this invention is to devise a simple and inexpensive method for reenforcing castings in the process of'manufacture, and particularly strengthening suchparts of castings as are subjected in service to the greatest stresses, to the end that ohjectionable strains and breaka es in the castings during service are e eetually prevented.

A further object is to form castings having strengthened portions formed during manufacture by means of inserts or inlays of tougher and greater stress and strain resisting quality than the main body of the casting. 4

Still another ob'ect of this invention is to have such strengt ening inserts and inlays become an integral part of the casting which.

cannot become loose therefrom.

As the description hereof pro resses, other objects and advantages should come obvious to anyone skilled in this art. While it should be understood that this invention is applicable to the manufacture of all kinds of castings, and especially metallic castings, nevertheless, I have chosen in the present preferred embodiment to illustrate the same in connection with the manufacture of improved castings for railway appliances, as this field presents a great variety of metallic, and particularly castings of ferrous metals, where the present improvement could be effectively employed.

Briefly stated, the invention comprises the following method of formin reenforced castings, wherein the mold is rst prepared in the conventional manner. Reenforcing inserts or inlays of material tougher than the main body of the casting are then sup ported in proper position in the mold,,the same having been preheated to a welding temperature, either heated before or after being placed in the mold in any suitable manner, as by means of electricity, to such a temperature as will approximate as nearly as possible, without melting, the temperature of the metal to be poured into the mold. The metal to be poured is heated to a temperature in excess of its melting point and is then poured into the mold and around or against the insert or inlay which absorbs the excess heat of the poured metal, the two metals then welding together and adhering in a manner to form an integral, unitary casting.

As already stated this method could be advantageously employed in the railway car rigging art where such castings as car wheels, brake shoes, side truck frames and bolsters are subjected to great stresses caus .ing many breakages, and accordingly I have chosen to illustrate in the accompanying drawings a car" wheel and brake shoe to show the manner of strengthening such particular castings.

In the drawings,-

Fig. 1 is a sectional view of a conventional mold showing the manner of forming a reenforced car wheel therein;

Fig. 2 is a plan view illustrating a seg mental fragment of one face of such wheel with the reenforcing inlaywelded thereon;

Fig. 3 is a detail sectional view showing the inlay welded over the usual ribs or brackets of standard car wheels, and is taken along line 3-3 of Fig. 2, looking in the direction of the arrows;

- Fig. 4 is a sectional detail of a wheel formed withreenforcing inserts rather than inlays and isa modification of the first disclosure;

Fig. 5 is a side view of a form of brake shoe with a reenforcing back plece cast 1ntegrally with its body;

Fig. 6 is a sectional view thereof along line 6-6 of Fig. 5, looking in the directionof the arrows; and

Fig. 7 is a similar view along the 1ine 7-7,

of- Fig. 5, looking, in the direction of the arrows.

To illustrate the improved method of casting better -castings, a conventional two-part molding flash 10 is shown, the same being filled with-sand and hollowed out in the usual way for pouring metal thereinto, such as cast iron, to mold the standard railway car wheel 11 shown therein. Each side edge adjacent the flange of these standard cast iron wheels soon chips and fritters oil due to the strain of usage, and the object here is to'strengthen these portions of the wheel in a manner to overcome this difliculty. Ac-

cordingly, there is placed in the mold, as-

shown, a pair of annular ring members 12 of tougher material than the wheel proper,

such for example as wrought iron or openbecome in effect resistance elements, and by means of electric current of the necessary voltage are heated to a temperature as nearly. as possible approximating the temperature of the molten metal to be poured to form the main body of the casting without melting and destro ing the form of these rings. The circuit eads for the upper ring are shown at 14 while those for the lower ring are shown at 15. Both rings could, of course, be included ina single circuit, if desired. Insulated conductors 16 are employed to pass the current-through the sand to the rings. Whenthe rin s are prcperly preheated the current may e cut 0 and the cast iron poured intothe mold at 17 in the usual way, the metal-Fcoinpletelyfilling the hollow in the moldg andcontacting the preheated rings of different material. The two metals are then permitted to 'cool slowly together to insure equal shrinkage, the

metals in effect at their contacting surfaces securely welding or amalgamating together to form an integral wheel, which Wlll be materially strengthened in those places where the stresses will be greatest. One face of the standard wheel is provided with the usual brackets or ribs 18 as shown, and the strengthening ring of different material, as shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, may be formed over these ribs. The cha lets 13 will become a part of the finis ed casting ver likely, as they may be made to unite wit either the ring or casting proper. The upper insulators 16 maybe arranged to support these chaplets as shown. These strengthening inlays or rings'may, of course, be preheated in ang other way and may even be eatedbefore eing placed in the mold. Each insert or inlay ring could be of a different metal to meet any particular kind of stress; that is, the completed casting could be an integral unit of three different metals.

In Fig. 1, a chill 21 is shown in the mold for the purpose of chilling and hardening the wheel tread or tire, as is usually done. This will in no way interfere with the method herein disclosed.

Fig. 4 shows a modified wheel wherein the molten metal is cast completely around strengthening inserts b the present method. Here the inserts could be perforated so that the poured metal could take a better grip on the insert A brake shoe 19, as shown in Figs. 5, 6 and 7 having a main body of iron may also have a strengthening back 20 of tougher material such as steel, integrally formed thereon by my method.

Obviously the method is a plicable to the formation of any castings to be made of different metals and particularly in the integral formation of a tougher wearing or strain and stress resisting surface or part for such castings. Striated surfaces and interlocking proections could also be formed on the surfaces of the reenf0rcing art to insure a tight weld wlth the mam ody of the casting, if desired.

The terms weld and welding herein employed are intended to mean the uniting of the different metals as by the adherence .of one with the other due to the heat at their contacting surfaces and not in the sense of alloying the different metals. In ractice the metal to be poured will be heate somewhat above its meltin point so that its surplus heat W111 be absoried by the reenforcing pieces to insure a better adherence between the different metals. This, for the reason that the inlay pieces 12 can be preheated only to a certain extent. They must not be heated too much lest they lose their'shapes and they must, of course, also retain their posltlons in the mold, which they cannot do if heated too much. The superheat of the poured metal is absorbed by the inlays and they cannot then lose their reformed shapes because the poured metal ls the mold and holds them in position. With the inlays d sposed on the outside as shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, 'the wheel is formed with a hard, tough, outer reenforced surface in a manner best conducive to resist wear and strain. Obvlously, the inlays could be in the form of dlSkS and-form a cover for the entire face of the wheel.

Although I have illustrated the referred embodiment of my invention, it wi 1 be evident that various chan es in the method may be made without eparting from the spirit of the invention, and, therefore, I do not limit myself to the exact disclosure made as indicated in the subjoined claims.

1 What I claim is:

1. The method of forming reenforced cast wheels comprising preheating preformed reenforcing pieces of one metal in a mold to substantially the highest temperature they will stand without losing their shapes, the pieces being so placed in the mold that one will be on the outside of each face of the finished wheel, then pouring a molten metal of a different quality and at a tem rature in excess of its melting point into t e mold against and between t e reenforcing pieces, such reenforcin pieces absorbing such excess heat and we din with the poured metal, the metals then coo ing and shrinking together to form an integral cast wheel having faces provided with exposed r'eenforcing pieces.

2. The method of forming'a reenforced cast wheel which consists in supporting preformed annular tough, ferrous pieces m a mold hollow, preheating the pieces in the mold to the highest temperature which they will stand without losing their preformed annular shapes, then pouring a molten ferrous metal of'a diflerent quality at a temperature inexcess of its melting point into the mold hollow against the preformed pieces the pieces absorbing the excess heat of the poured metal and welding therewith,

the metals then cooling and shrinking together to form an integral cast ferrous Wheel having exposed reenforcements thereon.

3. The method of forming reenforced castingshaving exposed reenforcing pieces, comprising properly supporting and. positioning hard preformed reen'forcing pieces of one metal in a mold hollow and preheating them to a temperature which will transform them to a soggy state without destroying their shapes, then ouring a molten metal. of a difierent qua 1ty and at a temperature in excess of its melting point into the mold against the reenforcing pieces, the said pieces a sorbing such excess heat and welding with the poured metal, the metals then cooling and shrinking together to form an integral casting having exposed reinforcements thereon.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

CARL E. EKLIND. 

